US soldier was convicted of three counts of murder, of conspiring to commit murder and other crimes, including assaulting a fellow soldier and taking fingers and a tooth from the dead, on Friday.

Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, sentenced to life in prison for his crimes, was the leader of the US army unit responsible for the killing of three Afghan civilians last year.

In all five soldiers have been charged with killing civilians. Some soldiers took pictures posing with the dead and took body parts as trophies.

The United Nations has confirmed reports that Sudan has bombed a refugee camp in South Sudan after a flare up of tensions between the two nations, leaving twelve dead and more than 20 wounded.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for an “independent, thorough and credible investigation” and said,

A former Kosovo Liberation Army commander turned Member of Parliament, Fatmir Limaj, has pleaded not guilty to charges allegedly torturing and executing Serb prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

See report by the Associated Press here.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on the Arab League to endorse the UN Security Council motion to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court on allegations of crimes against humanity. 

In a report,'We Live as in War', released on Friday, the Human Rights Watch said,

"Human Rights Watch believes that the nature and scale of abuses committed by the Syrian security forces across the country indicate that crimes against humanity may have been committed.

"The similarities in the cases of apparent unlawful killings, including evidence of security forces shooting at protestors without warning in repeated instances, arbitrary detention, disappearances, and torture, indicate the existence of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population which has the backing of the state."

“The Arab League needs to tell President Assad that violating their agreement has consequences, and that it now supports Security Council action to end the carnage.”

Photograph BBC news

Children lay poppies in Trafalgar Square, London

Across the world, nations remembered their war dead on Friday 11th November, Armistice Day.
 
The date marks the anniversary of Germany signing the Armistice agreement on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. 
 
In the UK, the Remembrance Day ceremony was held at the Cenotaph. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said,

"We stand together to honour the incredible courage and sacrifice of generations of British servicemen and women who have given their lives to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today."

"We stop to say thank you. And to remember those who are no longer with us but whose sacrifice and valour will be honoured long after we are gone. 

Observing Veterans Day, President Obama hosted a veterans breakfast at the White House, before laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and speaking at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

Speaking at Arlington cemetry, Obama said,

“On behalf of a proud and grateful nation, we thank you.”

The Russian foreign ministry has ruled out plans by the US, Britain and France to impose new sanctions on Iran following the release of a UN report that claims Iran may be trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Russian deputy foreign minister, Gennadi Gatilov, told Interfax news agency

“The world community will see all additional sanctions against Iran as an instrument of regime change in Tehran,”

Human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have expressed outrage at Commander Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, who is wanted by the Congolese government for his involvement in the 2010 mass rape commited in the Walikale area of eastern Congo, standing to represent the very same district in Parliament.

Between July to August 2010, Sheka, the leader of the Congolese rebel group Mai-Mai Sheka, led his troops through  13 villages in Walikale, raping hundreds of villagers, including children and elderly women. Over 116 people were reportedly abducted.

A former Bosnian Serb soldier has been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital.

The defendant, Sasa Baricanin, was found guilty of murder, enslavement and rape by a war crimes court in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The court heard how he had broken into a family apartment and shot several of the residents dead, before repeatedly raping one of the females there. He then came back with a colleague and proceeded to rape her for several days.

The Chief Prosecutor in the UN tribunal for war crimes has asked Serbian authorities to probe into how Ratko Mladic and another suspect were able to evade arrest and who helped them to do so.

Serge Brammertz, prosecotur for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia made the statement as he visited Serbia, ahead of delivering a report to the UN Security Council on Serbia’s compliance with the war crimes trial.

31 Hindus have been jailed for life for the killing of 33 Muslims during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

A mob burned down a house where a group of Muslims were sheltering from violence during riots that engulfed the Indian state of Gujarat.

41 others were acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.